GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Ursinus College men's lacrosse team's bid for its first Centennial Conference crown was denied by Gettysburg for the second straight season, as the 7th-ranked Bullets rode their stifling defense to a 9-2 victory on The Battlefield.
Gettysburg (14-2), which defeated the Bears 11-10 in last year's title game, clinched the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, leaving Ursinus (14-3) to await its fate when the field is revealed on the selection show, slated for Sunday night at 9 p.m. on ncaa.com.
The Bullets came in ranked third in Division III in scoring defense and looked every bit the part on their home turf, keeping the CC's top offense off the board until senior Logan Panaccione's man-up goal with 5:33 remaining in the fourth quarter. By then Gettysburg had opened up a 9-0 lead thanks in large part to Tommy Heller, who finished with five goals and an assist after a CC Tournament-record nine points in Wednesday's semifinal victory over Swarthmore.
Heller, named Tournament MVP, opened the scoring midway through the opening period for the Bullets, who led 2-0 after one quarter, 5-0 at half, and 7-0 at the end of the third. Jake Adoni racked up 13 saves in the cage to keep the high-powered Bears in check and help Gettysburg improve to 17-0 all-time against Ursinus.
Panaccione and freshman Peter DeSimone had the goals for Ursinus, which was outshot 32-26. Gettysburg held a 29-22 advantage in ground balls and an 8-7 edge in faceoffs.
Senior goalkeeper Brian Neff made eight saves, moving into the top five in CC history in career stops (709).
Junior Matthew Cioeta had four ground balls and a caused turnover, while Neff, junior Zach Jones, and senior Patrick O'Donoghue collected three grounders each. Sophomore Gerard Brown dished out his 37th assist of the year, and Cioeta handed out the assist on DeSimone's fourth-quarter tally.